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Red Bean Cake. YES.

This is one of my favorite Chinese desserts that I finally learned how to make with help from my mom. In Chinese it’s called 年糕 (nian gao) –年 meaning “year”, and 糕
sounding exactly like the word for “higher” – and so, eating it over new year
celebrations will naturally bring enlightenment, power, and never-ending
happiness and success. And even if that's not true, red bean cake does bring me temporary happiness, and it may also enlighten those who try it.

To make the filling, use chinese red beans, also called azuki beans.Soak the beans in water overnight.Or to save time, boil some water in a kettle and soak them in that water
for a couple of hours.The beans will
plump up a bit.

Then boil them in water that JUST covers it on low for about
an hour.Then mash up the beans, I used
a fine potato masher.Then add sugar to
taste and some vegetable oil for smoothness.

To make the rice batter, combine about 2 cups of rice flour
with about a cup and a half of milk, 1 egg, 1 tsp of baking power, spinkle of
salt, about a half cup of sugar.Mix
that together, it’s going to be a thin mixture similar to the
consistency of pancake mix.

Grease a pan and pour about half the mixture into the
bottom.Then drop in spoonfuls of the
beanpaste, trying not to disturb the bottom.And then top with the rest of the batter so the bean paste is
covered.Sprinkle with a healthy dose of
sesame seeds, and then bake at 165c/350f for about 50 minutes. Slice up and serve!